Technical Abstract:
New Food Pyramid can help you choose the foods and the amounts that are right for your age, gender and physical activity level <mypyramid.gov>. Physical activity is emphasized in addition to grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat & beans, oils as food groups. The suggested amounts of various food groups consumed decrease with increasing age and decreasing activity level, however the milk consumption stay the same at any age for stronger bones. Wheat bran was extruded in a twin-screw extruder at five specific mechanical energy (SME) levels (0.120, 0.177, 0.234, 0.291 and 0.358 kWh/kg dry basis), and their cholesterol-lowering effects were evaluated in a hamster study. Cholesterol digestibility, total liver cholesterol and total liver lipids were significantly lower with all the extruded wheat bran diets compared with the unextruded wheat bran control. Wheat bran extruded with 0.291 kWh/kg diet resulted in 13% reduction in plasma cholesterol, 29% reduction in low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Extrusion processing could enhance cholesterol-lowering potential of wheat bran.